Duggan: Watery tourist site provides insight into nature

Jan. 3, 2013

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The ocean holds a special fascination for landlubbers like me. It’s enchanting and a bit frightening at the same time.

My family spent Christmas week in partly sunny Florida with my wife’s extended family. We stayed together in a rented a house on Anna Maria Island near Tampa Bay.

The weather was relatively cool with highs in the 60s and windy conditions, so we didn’t swim in the ocean but merely waded up to our ankles in the waves. Still, it was a lovely place.

We spent many hours walking the white-sand beaches, admiring the diverse bird life, picking up seashells, and gazing across the Gulf of Mexico.

As we walked along I repeatedly reminded my daughters of an important life lesson: “Be careful: Everything in the ocean wants to eat you.”

They didn’t buy it, of course, considering the source. But they did keep a close eye on the seagulls that swarmed overhead anytime the birds suspected we were carrying bread or some other form of food.

We all received a lesson in the peaceful nature of one sea creature during a side trip to Crystal River a few hours drive to the north. We went there in search of manatee.

Manatees are fascinating animals that are distantly related to elephants. They are big, strong and docile. They seek out the warm spring waters around central Florida to pursue their only apparent pasttime — eating.

Taking a tour boat to swim with them is a popular tourist activity. We signed up for a two-hour tour, but because of high winds could not venture far down river. We wound up anchored in a small cove in a residential neighborhood. An area marked with plastic pipe indicated where manatees hang out.

When our boat arrived, a couple of dozen snorkelers were already there and our group added to the congestion. If I were a manatee, I wouldn’t have wanted to be there.

I had a prescription diving mask with me, but visibility was tough because of the sediment stirred up by so many swimmers. I spent a fair amount of time staring at things that were either large rocks or very slow-moving manatees.

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At one point a manatee emerged from the murkiness and swam in front of me. But I did not see its head or tail; all I saw was its side, which looked like a wrinkled billboard. It wasn’t exactly a satisfying nature experience.

On the way back to Anna Maria Island, we stopped at a park that had an underwater viewing facility in the clear waters of the Homosassa River. While kind of a tourist trap, it had benefits.

We could actually see the manatees and appreciate their size and beauty without harassing them. They ate blissfully and ignored the gawking crowds. And there were other interesting animals to see, including alligators and lots of native inland and ocean birds.

I love being in wild places like coastlines and seeing animals in their natural setting. But there’s something to be said for facilities that provide ways to experience nature while not interfering with it.

The animals are well cared for; people can garner some understanding of them and, one hopes, an appreciation for why they should be protected in the wild.

And no one — animal or human — has to feel as if they’re on somebody’s menu.

Kevin Duggan is a senior reporter. Contact him at (970) 224-7744 or KevinDuggan@coloradoan. com. Follow him at Coloradoan Kevin Duggan on Facebook or @coloradoan_dugg on Twitter.